Bunker Is Transformed To Be A Four-Bedroom Home With Skylights

By Debbie Guadan

March 14, 2015

Elizabeth Strutton knows how to bunk down for the night -- she transformed a U.K. World War II radar post into a hideaway home.

The bunker built in 1942 was designed to track enemy activity, according to the Daily Mail. For many years the former radar post was shuttered -- and then Strutton spotted the St. Levan listing. The five-year, £100,000 project transformed a piece of history into a home. The video below features a quick tour of an office, antiques room, living and kitchen spaces, plus the bathrooms and bedrooms.

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"It is a magical fortress," Strutton told the Daily Mail in 2013. "You don't know what you're letting yourself in for when you take this kind of thing on, but I know I live in the best place in the world now."

Strutton, identified as a former property developer, had to cope with renovation frustrations. The whole structure had to be insulated since it is underground; a fire sprinkler system was required because there are no windows or fire escapes, and an air circulation unit once reigned in what is now a bedroom, the Daily Mail reported.

What are the bright spots? "There's no reason to think you're living underground," Strutton told BBC News. That's because sun tubes in the roof let in light and help with ventilation.

Then there is the outdoor ambience, with views of the fields and landscaping, plus the site's historical role.

"We have had a lot of interest," Strutton told the newspaper. "A man studying bunkers of that era came round and I learned a lot about my home that I never knew. "

"Living in here you do really appreciate the way people fought -- you feel a sort of connection with what they were doing. It is something I don't want to take for granted and one of the best things about the place."

Strutton ended up putting the property on the market, but not many people can say they helped save a piece of history.